With rights on the agenda during the first debate on 17 January, expectations were high. But as Dr Ken Setiawan writes, the performance of both candidate pairs left little hope for an improvement in the human rights situation.

Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) head Grace Natalie has been accused of blasphemy for remarks she made on shari’a-inspired local regulations. Is there now no room for non-Muslims to comment on religion in public? Daniel Peterson examines the case against her.

Some 23 people have been sentenced under the Blasphemy Law since President Joko Widodo came to power in 2014, including six this year. Andreas Harsono from Human Rights Watch looks at the impact of the law on its victims, such as ethnic Chinese Buddhist Meliana.

President Joko Widodo surprised many when he selected Islamic cleric Ma’ruf Amin as his vice presidential running mate. Dr Budhy Munawar Rachman looks at Ma’ruf’s record at the Indonesian Council of Ulama (MUI) and writes that if the pair are elected, things could become a lot worse for religious minorities.

Indonesia had its human rights record scrutinised under the United Nation’s Universal Periodic Review process for the third time last week. Dr Ken Setiawan takes a look at the concerns raised and examines the prospects for meaningful change in promotion and protection of human rights on the ground.